NOTE: The theatrical version
of LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD was rated PG-13. This is a review of
the unrated DVD version.

Let's get the negatives out of the way:

* LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD is
about a super computer
hacker systematically shutting down The United States, causing
havoc
and panic across the country. The trouble is, computers don't
lend themselves to exciting movie moments. People
sitting around
looking at monitors, typing on keyboards, saying
things like
"Let's get that upload"... seriously, it's not easy to make this
kind of geeky stuff cinematically interesting.

* The original DIE HARD
had Alan Rickman as the
bad guy, and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE had Jeremy Irons.
LIVE
FREE OR DIE HARD has Timothy Olyphant. Olyphant is a good actor
and does project a certain sinister quality, but this is a part that
calls for a big star, or at least a screen presence strong enough to
match Bruce Willis. When Willis battles with Olyphant and his
merry band of hackers, if sometimes feels like a substitute teacher
dealing with a semi-rowdy band of students.

* While most of LIVE FREE OR
DIE HARD features
good old-fashioned
stunt work, the film still relies on CGI for some of its thrills,
including a huge setpiece toward the end. Allow me to quote
from
JL's review of DIE
ANOTHER DAY:
"[I]f
a computer, rather than
a human being, is required for a stunt, it doesn't belong in a Bond
film." Since DIE HARD films owe much to the Bond series, the
same
holds true here. In an action film, I want to see
real
action, not
animation created on a computer. While some of the
CGI work
is excellent, there are one or two times that you just know you are
watching animated characters and vehicles performing animated
stunts.

Now for the positives, which
far outweigh the negatives:

* Bruce Willis. Without him, this would
be
just another high-tech thriller. At 52 years old, he hasn't
lost
a step in the process of successfully resurrecting the great
action hero of
the '80s
and '90s, John McClane of the NYPD. Although Willis may
occasionally
say things like "I'm getting too old to jump out of cars", this is
belied
by what we see on screen. He is still a force to be reckoned
with, and now, with his trademark baldness, he is even more of
an
iconic figure. Without apology, I say he still has
more pure charisma than Arnold and
Sly squared (and I like Arnold and Sly).
Welcome back, John
McClane! Yippee-Ki-Yay!

* The rest of the cast, especially Justin Long,
aka the Mac guy from a series of
annoying American television commercials. Long, who plays a computer hacker
who
is being targeted for death, is an offbeat, appealing
actor
who works well with Willis, mostly because he is the polar
opposite of an
action hero. Maggie Q, from MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3, is the best of
the
film's villains, a dangerous beauty with insane martial
arts skills. Her
inevitable comeuppance (by now, you know all the bad guys and gals die,
and die hard, in
the DIE HARD films) ranks as one of the most exciting,
preposterous and
satisfying exits of the
series. Mary Elizabeth Winstead doesn't get much face time until the
final third of the movie, but she does a nice job playing
McClane's now grown daughter Lucy, who shares some of her father's
personality and has obviously picked up a few self-defense tricks from
Pops.

Len Wiseman had only two
UNDERWORLD movies under
his belt before LIVE FREE AND DIE HARD, but he does a superlative job
at keeping the action flowing while still allowing time for the banter
and lighter moments the series is known for. He creates a
movie
that feels like a modern-day action film while still retaining enough
of the qualities of the original DIE HARD series to satisfy all the but
the most "die hard" fans.

While not the classic
film the original is,
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD is roughly equal in quality, thrills and fun
to DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE.
Even if it is nothing more than a summer popcorn flick, it is
a
summer popcorn flick with Bruce Willis in his most famous
role.
If they can
make a DIE HARD film this good after a twelve-year hiatus, I wouldn't
mind hearing of a DIE HARD 5 in the works. - JB